What is the best aviation movie?

[Tailwheelman]

My vote is for "Island in the Sky". Of all of Gann's novels that turned into movies this one probably follows closest to the feeling you get when you read the book. "Twelve O'Clock High" is also at the top of the list. Great movie. Gotta love it when Gregory Peck reams the captain who isn't pulling weight on the flight schedule.

"If I got a bombardier you can't hit his plate with his fork....You get'em! If I have a navigator who can't find his way to the men's room....You get'em!"

Priceless.

 

[goodgig]

1941.
(Tailwheelmans avitar brought back the memory)

 

[jdlilfan]

Iron Eagle

 

[UALBRAT]

Mandatory viewing for all pilots

Dr. Strangelove, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.

This movie is a cold war spoof that has some great acting from Peter Sellers, George C. Scott and Slim Pickens. The best scene is when the camera angle pans across the B-52 flight crew and Slim Pickens is shown "reading" Playboy Magazine. My all time favorite flick.

 

[lowtimedriver]

I thought Airplane was a parody of Airport. In fact, I think you'll "get" more of the jokes if you watch Airplane immediately after watching Airport.

You are getting your movies mixed-up. Airplane was a parody of Zero Hour about a flight gone bad. Made in 1957, the original was oh so bad and was acutally comical to a certain extent. Rent it if you can, get drunk and watch it. You will laugh your ass off.

 

[phr8dawg]

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines-I do not know of any other flick with pre- WW1 aircraft in it. Real ones! It's otherwise painful to watch.

Frank Tallman did fly through the billboard. He crashed hundreds of planes for movies, but died scudrunning a C310 in the California mountains.

Paul Mantz did not lose control of the "Flight of the Phoenix" bird, he hit a sand bar and the structurally unsound movie plane scabbed together from a BT-13 Vultee Vibrator broke in half behind the cockpit and the forward section nosed over and crushed him. There is a sequence of photos I saw in a forgotten book.

There is an older Japanese animated movie called "Porko Rosso" I enjoyed. The artists involved clearly love seaplanes. Very bizarre movie. Another animated flight series is called "Cowboy Bebop." Watch carefully and you can pick out structural details from aircraft drawings. They did their homework. Great theme song...."tank"

Netflix has all these titles. Fly safe!

 

[lowtimedriver]

Battle of Britain
The Blue Max
The Right Stuff

But maybe the greatest aviation scene ever in a movie is this from Empire of the Sun. My fascination and love for aviation, and the P-51 says it all on the slow motion flyby of the 51 Driver. Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ouJ_WyS9v8&feature=related

 

[Snapshot]

Fandango.

 

[Lead Sled]

I had thought that I had seen all of the flying movies ever filmed, but this week AMC showed the 1964 movie "Flight from Ashiya" about USAF Air/Sea Rescue pilots. It was the typical late 50's - early 60's flying film with hokey dialoge and crummy special effects. That being said, it had special interest for me - I have a good friend who flew Grumman Albatrosses in the Air Force back in the early 50's. He has some good stories involving open ocean landings.

My vote for best airplane movie??? It all depends on the mood I happen to be in at the time, but if you haven't seen "One Six Right: The Romance of Flying" then you should certainly see it before your cast your vote on the best aviation movie ever.

LS

 

[Skycam]

Original "Airport"
"The Great Waldo Pepper"
"Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines"

Sorry folks, but "Top Gun" sucked, still sucks, and will always suck.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

For real flying.....CLOUD DANCER, 1979 David Carridine, Pitts Specials lots of Aerobatic clips!

 

[BEfly]

#1 Airplane..............hands down
#2 Air America
#3 Blue Max
#4 Flight of the Intruder
#5 Top Gun
#6 Fandango
#7 Final Countdown
#8 The Right Stuff
#9 The Langoliers (Love that L1011)
#10 Firefox


If you guys haven't seen any of these, buy em on amazon for 3 bucks.

 

[Col Reb]

Midway. My dad took me to see it when I was 4, and I wanted to be a pilot ever since.

Close seconds:
Battle of Britain.
Bridges at Toko Ri.

 

[lowtimedriver]

I've read a couple of Dale Brown's books. After the first, I was convinced he was incapable of writing decent aviation fiction. I gave him a second chance, and affirmed my conviction. Pure hogwash.

Delusions of Buff grandeur.

Well it is fiction ya know. Flight of the Old Dog was an execellent read IMO.

 

[TurboJetCpt]

Without a doubt the best Aviation movie ever made was "300."

 

[retired guy]

An 8 episode series about a fictional squadron (Hornet Squadron) in the days just prior to the British being run out of France, then stationed around Dover. Great scenes of Spitfires...must have rounded up every flyable Spitfire in Europe to make this series. Actually no Spits were stationed in France, several Hurricane squadrons were, however. It`s on disc..got my copy on line. It`s called "A Piece of Cake"

 

[Col Reb]

Retired Guy, "A Piece of Cake" was definitely a great show. Did they really fly a Spit under the stone bridge? It looks real to me.

 

[Pull To Guns]

A couple more of Jimmy Stewart movies come to mind:
"The Spirit of St. Louis" in which Stewart portrays Charles Lindberg in his epic flight.

"No Highway in the Sky" As an aerodynamic engineer in early 1950's Great Britain, Stewart's character tries to warn a commercial aircraft maker of impending catastrophic failure (due to metal fatigue) of the company's revolutionary new airliner design that featured dual horizontal stabilizers.

The movie eerily portends the troubles had by the DeHavilland Comet in the early 60's with metal fatigue.

"Top Gun" in an insult to Naval Aviators everywhere despite some good flying footage.

 

[SDF2BUF2MCO]

Piece of Cake, was a great series/movie. I remember at the end of the show Allistar Cooke (sp?), the PBS host, stated that some of the old timers were miffed at the display of the "excessive" characters. Moggie's character comes to mind.
Ret. Guy, all the books I have read there were no Spits in France. I speculate there are more flying Spits when the movie was made than Hurricanes - also the Spit is much sexier for the cameras than the old cart horse Cane.

 

[belchfire]

I was sure glad to see that someone mentioned The Blue Max...but they forgot to mention Ursula Andress.

What the hell is this place coming to???

There were some good movies about British flying too. Dam Busters, Suicide of the 731st (don't know if the number is correct), Battle of Britain...

There was a Korean War era movie about early jets in Naval Aviation but I don't recall the title that was pretty good. Almost a prequel to Flight of the Intruder...